Static

Static
Shikashinigami

(Shukaku) 'Thoughts.' "Dialogue." [Kyuubi] :: Lyrics ::

Disclaimer: I do no own Naruto... I don not own the characters... and I do not own the song lyrics.

SHADOW ZONE : layer one

:: If you are near to the dark, I will tell you 'bout the sun.
You are here, no escape. From my visions of the World.
You will cry all alone, but it does not mean a thing to me… ::

(Sleep…)

'Sleep?'

(Sleep.)

'Sleep? Impossible…'

(Sle-ep.)

'Shit…'

:: I'm winning, you're losing ::

Gaara opened his eyes in a futile attempt to break the unwelcome state of being… sleep.

Unfortunately for him, that was a bad move; now as he walked around a desolate city, it seemed as though he was most likely trapped in this dream world Shukaku had made… just for him, how special.

He distantly hoped that he was the only one consuming the demon's attention right now. Although, while other attractions were amusing… it was much more entertaining to focus your complete attention on some one thing, to better torture it…

:: I'm falling, your agony ::

A bitter laugh rose on the horizon like so much dust the city surrounding him had to offer. Gaara surveyed the landscape, and by the looks of things he was back home, he stopped walking and crossed his arms, looking around.

It was the Hidden Sand, but… something was off. He couldn't quite place what was different exactly, but there was something definitely and intriguingly, different. He sighed uncrossing his arms, this was boring… he assumed that he would be better off wasting his time doing something, other than standing in one place. Though, it didn't look like Shukaku would be done playing for quite some time, much to Gaara's delight...

:: Lower than lower, before ::

A sharp gasp and an intake of air echoed in the silence, as Gaara put a hand to his mouth... searing pain took it's time traveling easily up his leg. Gaara's eyes widened. Pain like this was not in Gaara's everyday training regiment, he tried to ignore the fire that burned him as he looked down.

It seemed Shukaku's antics were growing dangerous… the sand he held so dear, had turned against him. In the form of a hand, the substance had emerged from the road engulfing his leg in it's painful embrace and was now pulling him into the ground. Oh yes, this was not good, not good at all.

Gaara took a relatively large breath as his mouth reached the sand. Shukaku wouldn't kill him… but that didn't mean he couldn't make Gaara suffer in his stead. Surely being imprisoned in a human body was uncomfortable, though Gaara seriously doubted it was this painful.

As the last strands of red hair faded into the shifting sand, Gaara wondered if he would be allowed to breathe any time soon. Holding his breath he waited in the dank blackness for a sign of the most beloved substance called air.

:: Your forgotten memory ::

After two minutes or and eternity… Gaara wasn't so sure there was much of a difference between the two, especially when it came to drowning in something that had once protected you… Gaara could no longer hold the air within him. The searing fire that had once consumed his leg, had now manifested within his lungs, and oh what a blaze it was. He let the air escape… breathing deeply.

To his interest, the sand lifted and shifted around him with that breath. Perhaps, Shukaku was not as heartless as Gaara had thought him to be, though this was a close second. Gaara was now able to control the sand once again, giving him a meager chance to fight his way out of this dream, or other-world... whatever the hell it was.

Or perhaps… Shukaku's amusement ran deeper when the playing field was more evenly distributed, giving his prey a chance to make a fool of itself.

:: My heaven, your hell ::

Gaara brought the wall of sand in again and lifted himself out of the ground with it. The vortex of earth shot up into the air, and slowly subsided to the region beneath Gaara's feet, making him a platform to stand upon.

He knelt down a bit unsteadily and took another deep breath of the air that was now free from sand.
Another stomach lurching laugh came, Gaara was sure now that it was indeed Shukaku laughing at him in his uncertainty, and it made him furious. How dare the damned demon make fun of him.

Well, at least he knew now… that with Shukaku's enjoyment, came Shukaku's attention. Hopefully, no one would die while he slept… he shook his head slightly, 'no rephrase that… hopefully no one would come close enough to die while he slept.'

Not that he cared anyway, what did it matter to him if anyone was stupid enough to walk into a vortex of sand. Yes, he knew what it looked like when he slept. Because while he did Shukaku had more reign on his body… leaving him, well, helpless.

If you call becoming an indiscriminate killing machine helpless…

:: I'm killing, you're fantasy ::

Gaara watched in an unamused fashion as the scenery around him shifted once again, and while he was unaffected by the shift… he was now in a different place, no, a different time altogether… he thought vaguely of Naruto.

The one person who had ever come close to defeating him… Naruto's words had changed him… slightly, and for the better he liked to believe. Though no one save Naruto would ever know how largely the seemingly meaningless string of sound had impacted him.

A small image of Naruto smiling was produced in his mind, and non-existent eyebrows lifted themselves. Strange, that had never happened before… Although as soon as the thought had appeared it was gone again, as Gaara slowly recognized his surroundings.

His gaze followed the skyline slowly as the darkness of night sank into his very being, the outline of a building becoming inadmissible against the brightness of the moon.

The more that was defined the more the sinking feeling developed in the pit of his stomach, like a leaden ball that had suddenly gained more weight. He blinked a few time as his gaze followed more of the surrounding scenery.

:: More and more, you follow ::

This was… He looked up at the roof of the building before him. Surely it couldn't be. No it was… it was the assassination attempt by the only one who Gaara had ever thought had loved him, his dear, beloved... dead uncle.

The man that he would have called his mother's double…

Gaara's eyes narrowed, that man was the part of the reason he was as torn and demented as he was, well Gaara guessed he could blame the whole village for that, especially the man that called himself the Kazekage… his father.

He had cursed him with this power, the power to kill for no reason. An experiment, unfortunately for them, their little experiment had had an unstable personality.

He was made and taken apart by those beings, and he now placed the blame on them for his ruthless actions in the past. He had once believed his only purpose upon Earth was to kill people, the people in his path. But, now…

:: Your divorced reality ::

Now his purpose was to kill those that were evil. People who were like he use to be, who had no remorse for what they did. As cold hearted as he was, he remembered the faces of the innocent people he had killed, and had stored them safely in his memory to repent for his misshapen actions. No one would have guessed, no one could have, because he was a cold, heartless bastard. Or so they thought…
He watched on from a nearby rooftop as the scene that had once plagued him… was played out, large screen and technicolor, strait from his own memory.

He watched on as the sand did it's job, protecting him from the weapons meant to kill him, as surely as the leaves of a tree were extended to catch the rain and prevent it from falling to the ground… it's one and only true destination.

:: You're trying to take me ::

Gaara watched on as he was broken, too young and confused to know what was happening to him… he felt an unfamiliar churning deep within his stomach, as other memories shifted their way into the scene.
Like a collage of sorrow, all the memories that lead up to this baddie where played in front of his eyes. Even the cruelty of the other sand children, he had never understood why they were so afraid of him, the fear of Temari and Kankuro his sister and brother.

His mother's last emotion as her life was sacrificed, in the experiment that was he… the demon who loved only himself… Gaara.

But still he was not affected… memories were meaningless and he would not allow himself to be affected by them, even if they weren't particularly pleasant ones. He frowned, 'I wonder how long Shukaku is planning on doing this? It's so, uninteresting…'

The familiar facade was re-secured by Gaara's inner turmoil. Determined not to allow Shukaku the satisfaction of his suffering.

:: You're trying to make me ::

He fought hard against the emotion that was building, he would not give in to it. No matter how much it hurt he would not give in. His hand wanted to wander to the place it had resided once, over his heart. A child who had never felt pain, and at the same time had only felt pain…

The ground shifted beneath his feet again. This time the sand flowed elegantly upward, swirling slowly in a vortex around Gaara. Slowly closing in… Gaara blinked a few times, staring at the sand that had become something with a seeming life of it's own.

Once again out of his control…

After a scant eternity or so of swirling, the vortex shut around Gaara. Swiftly he sucked in air, as the sand had gripped him so tightly, the air he had in his possession was now floating free. He tried to breath as the sand gripped tighter. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination, or an other-world… it was a nightmare.

:: This is the only ::

His favorite attack had been turned against him, to top it off, it was slowly crushing him to death… 'how unpleasant'. Gaara took a deep breath as the sand loosened slightly. He felt nothing of emotion in regards to his own death, really. Time and cruelty had made sure of that.

No fear… no apprehension, then again it wasn't like Gaara to feel an emotion to its fullest extent, he felt very slight emotion if he felt anything at all. But what he was feeling now, was completely new, as the next scene unfolded before him, his jaw tightened as the apparition slowly took shape.
His favorite attack, slowly squeezing the life out of someone… he squinted his eyes as his jaw clenched tighter.

:: Give me the only thing ::

Instead of a memory or an event in the past, the next scene was an occurrence that had yet to happen and as Gaara watched a scene that he in his waking life would never allow. He squirmed in his current prison, attempting to turn his head, to look away… to do something. But the sand just gripped tighter making his struggling futile.

He watched on as the life was slowly sapped from the only being that had ever broken through his shell of antipathy, the only one he had ever encountered that was like him... Naruto.

:: I'm tired of trying ::

He watched as pain flickered over Naruto's features, the stubborn boy refusing to cry out. Whilst Gaara tried to tell himself Naruto would never let anything of this nature happen to him. Let alone be captured by him. He watched as he turned his palm up lifting Naruto into the air, palm closing slowly so unlike what he usually did.

He watched as the look on his face turned from impassive to utter malice.

:: I'm tired of lying ::

Gaara closed his eyes he couldn't watch any longer. He didn't want to see that, he did not want to see that He forced himself to breath evenly as the sickening sound of breaking bones drifted through the air. Finally, Naruto gave in... crying out as the fourth or fifth bone broke.

Gaara shook his head, as Naruto called out for him to stop, causing his alternative self to smirk maliciously. He stared for a moment… is that what he looked like? He didn't look like that, not that… evil? Did he?

:: The only thing I understand is what I feel::

Gaara could only look on as the last gasps of air filtered through Naruto's lungs. Emotion buried its way into his throat causing a sensation that made it hard to breathe. He closed his eyes again not willing to show emotion, never willing.

:: Identity, fantasy ::

Gaara sighed, releasing the feeling so he could breathe, a solitary tear finding it's way down a pale cheek. Gaara blinked, and then blinked again. The hell? Was that... a tear?

He snaked his tongue out catching the intrusive drop. Salty… a… tear...

Confusion overtook Gaara, he didn't cry, at least he hadn't since… well, since today. He would have shrugged but the sand continued to hold him still. He breathed, not so easy anymore, still forcing himself to take deep even breathes. The emotion that had been building was gone. Released with the drop of sanity that had held him together in this world.

:: Heresy, killing me ::

Now it was replaced, replaced with something much more familiar, something he had just seen. Although the hatred he had just seen was something closer to malice. This was just down right anger.
How dare he, how dare Shukaku make him feel such things, he had no right He had no right at all
The anger slowly became a chant inside his head, building until it exploded in the form of chakra, rippling through the sand that had once held him captive. Now conformed to his will, the sand merely held him.

Completely pissed off now, he disbanded the sand, falling until agile feet met the ground, catching himself easily with grace much like that of feline nature. He slowly raised his head as another apparition appeared before him. This time a much more familiar one.

:: Lower than lower, before ::

Gaara's lime colored eyes lifted upward and toward his new adversary, Shukaku… the bastard himself.

:: This thing to feed ::

Rage appeared briefly across Gaara's face, gone as fast as it came. He was stronger that this. His will surpassed any As well as his cunning… Shukaku would suffer this day. And Gaara was damn determined to make sure of that.

:: Hypocrite, lunatic ::

Shukaku was unfazed. A mask of indifference covering his face, barely distinguishable among the shadow that toyed along his visage. Eyes narrowing dangerously, as the words echoed through his head. Hypocrite… lunatic…. They never stopped, the words endlessly plaguing him…forever trapped within this intolerable boy.

:: Fanatic, heretic ::

The chant continued as old as time itself, fanatic, heretic… A priest, that's what he had been… it was hard to remember now. He had been respected… looked up to… admired. All gone thanks to the one person Gaara hated most. The one thing they were able to agree upon. The Kazekage…

Gaara began to look slightly amused, this had happened before… the fight for his body and soul. He would win, he had to… he had people to protect now, people who were… dear to him.

Gaara blinked once. That felt good, it was a nice feeling, to be able to say that and mean it. He had people to protect, he could not, and would not allow Shukaku control over his body. No matter how his dreams played out and what emotions they drew from him.

:: More and more, you follow ::

Gaara crossed his arms as he stood fully, accepting the inevitable battle that would come. He braced himself, it would happen like it always did, they would fight until his will won over, until Shukaku could no longer take Gaara's spirit pummeling him, or what was left of it.

They stood for an immeasurable amount of time, merely staring at each other. Each formulating their own ideas and thoughts of what was to happen. Gaara wasn't sure he even wanted to plan. Planning was shit, nothing ever worked out when you planned it.

It's just the way it was... That inadversable law, when things go awry anything that can happen, will happen.

Gaara was beginning to get impatient… when Shukaku closed his eyes.

:: Your divorced reality ::

Gaara turned his head slightly, looking more fully at his opponent. Confused by the sudden change in the air. Anger was no more an issue… Gaara narrowed his eyes. “What game are you playing?” His words echoed solemnly through the air.

Shukaku looked up. “Game?” He looked thoughtful for a moment before letting his head fall to the side slightly. “No game…” He also narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps… we can make these 'encounters' end…?” He spoke cautiously, as if preparing for the retribution that would surely come swiftly.
Though Gaara was intrigued he was still angry for the events that had come to pass in the last few moments. Shukaku would have to pay, but first… this compromise.

:: You're trying to take me ::

Shukaku could tell Gaara was interested. One had only to look at the formulations of that which was the thought process, as the wheels of deliberation slowly churned within the boy's head. Looking for possible ill intention, which seemed to have become a part of himself in these recent times.
He inwardly agreed with that statement, as he continued to observe Gaara's reactions to his proposal of a possible truce…

Gaara worked through the possibilities of the words.

“What do you mean… end?” Gaara asked. Still looking entirely pissed. Shukaku blinked… he wanted to know more?

A ghost of smirk lined his features as he began to negotiate. “I will stop relentlessly bothering you and making your life a miserable hell… somewhat.” He said pausing slightly to add that last bit. “If you kill the one who did this…” He gestured to himself and then to Gaara.

:: You're trying to make me ::

Gaara's eyes widened slightly, just slightly. “Why don't you just do it.” He stated bluntly.
Shukaku shook his head starting to speak, but Gaara stopped him. 'It's much more fun to cause someone else suffering than take what ever it is you want to do into your own hands, got it.' He closed his eyes, using one hand to massage his temple… a vain attempt to ease the growing headache that threatened him.

:: This is the only ::

“So you would have me kill my father.” Gaara looked at him, slowly open his lime green eyes, filled with interest. “What do you get out of it?”

:: Give me the only thing ::

Shukaku shrugged. “The everlasting satisfaction of making a person kill another person, knowing fully well they aren't likely to refuse the offer of such a thing as relief, for... Ever. Growing. Insanity.” Each word was carefully punctuated by an ever growing malicious smile and endless narrowing of the demon’s eyes. Slitted and yellow...

He stopped, and then shook head in agreement with his ramblings of a statement. Gaara just stared blankly, wondering vaguely why Shukaku chose now to make an arrangement with him.
He suddenly felt like pinching himself, to make sure this was a dream.

“Oh be sure…” Shukaku said, tilting his head forward, loosing evermore the malicious smile he was so fond of. “This is reality…” He gestured to the shifting surroundings. “In one way or another.”

:: I'm tired of trying ::

Gaara wasn't so sure he was dreaming as he stared into the cold eyes of his adversary. The adversary he had kept at bay from the world for seventeen years.

:: I'm tired of lying ::

Gaara narrowed his eyes, letting the thought sink in.

“A truce…” He said quietly. Shukaku nodded, “and all you want in return is for me to kill the bastard…”
There was a pause before Shukaku nodded slightly. Gaara smirked, he knew it, there was something else he wanted. Unfortunately he didn't really want to ask what it was. All he knew is he wanted to get out of this dream… and back into the real world.

:: The only thing I understand is what I feel ::

He wanted to go and seek Naruto to ask him his opinion on the matter before he made an arrangement of this magnitude. Shukaku looked at him with calculating eyes. “You need time? To think it over…” He scratched his head slightly. “Well sure, what the hell,” he spoke non-chalantly… however, the malice never left his eyes as he watched Gaara contemplate what to do.
“Go ask your, Naruto what to do… I'll be waiting.” He purred chillingly as he slowly faded, his voice holding curiously strong. “It's not like I can go anywhere anyway…” He said sarcastically, as Gaara felt the loosening of his subconscious.

:: Hypocrite, lunatic, fanatic, heretic ::

His words echoed, lingering in the air as Gaara sat up strait in his bed. He looked at his hands as if reassurance he was at last awake. He felt the sweat trickle down his back as he sat, staring blankly at the sand that floated in the air, slowly sifting back into the familiar form that sat in the corner of his room.

He had time… he swung his feet over the side of the bed. He had to talk to Naruto. He put a hand to his chest, he had to ask him what this… feeling was.

:: Hypocrite, lunatic, fanatic, heretic ::

Shukaku smirked to himself, oh… how he loved mind games. His prison was confused… now was the perfect time for his plan. The pact he had wanted to make for years now, had finally been released out into the open. And now the fun would begin, starting with a leisurely visit to the boy, that his boy liked so much…

:: Knowing the song I will sing, 'till the darkness comes to sleep.
Come to me, I will tell, 'bout the secrets of the sun.
It's in you, not in me. But it does not mean a thing to you… ::

A/N: More to come! Review... Song: Aura, .hack//sign and The Only, Static-X